Chapter 25
1322 Words
(Calliope)
The sky was crystal clear with just a handful of clouds and a warm summer breeze brushed gently across my face.
I felt myself smile as I lay back onto soft sweet grass, savouring the sun's heat against my skin.
If only every morning was this good!
I heard sweet bird-song fill my ears as I stretched and let my arms fall to my sides. I felt the tips of my fingers brush over a large stone and immediately the world fell quiet.
Frowning, I opened my eyes and swollen rain clouds were filling the sky way too fast.
As I sat up, my eyes caught sight of the ‘stone’ that I had touched. Only it wasn’t a stone.
It was Andy.
Stone cold.
Dead.
And on the other side of her was Yann.
A silent scream was racking my body and I could feel myself shaking violently until I felt warm hands on me.
“Calliope! Calliope! Wake up!”
My eyes shot open and there in my vision was Gus, shaking my arm. His hair was disheveled and it fell, framing his tired face.
It looked like he hadn't slept in days.
“G-gus?” I croaked.
He quickly reached for a pitcher of water and poured me a glass which I downed in seconds. Pouring me another, I drank as he slumped back down onto his stool.
Looking around, we were in the infirmary that was sectioned off from the rest of the room with a screen for privacy. There were probably twenty beds in here and half of them had occupants.
Confused, I looked at my body under the sheet and found both of my legs but one bandaged tightly which started to ache.
As I stared, it all came back to me.
The breach, the rain, the fight and the chaos.
And Andy.
“Gus, where is Andy? Is she okay? Is she still alive? Where is she??” I frantically tried to rip the sheet off but he gently grabbed my arms and stopped me.
“Calliope, she is alive. She is actually to your right, a couple of beds down” and he nodded in her direction.
As I craned my neck, sure enough, there she was. Laying peacefully on her back like an angel with the sun on her bed. Her arms were bandaged and she had a few cuts and bruises on her face.
I saw the rise and fall of her chest and felt myself relax a little.
“She had a few long gashes on her arms and was a bit banged up but she is okay. She hasn't woken up yet but she will soon, no doubt.”
Turning back, Gus helped me get comfortable as I propped myself up.
“What about Yann? Is he okay? And Marianne?”
“Yann is fine and so is Marianne. They will be here soon- they just went home to freshen up. They actually have been taking turns sitting by both of your beds."
I let out a little sigh as I closed my eyes and said a silent ‘thank you’ prayer. I wasn't much of a believer in those kind of things like Andy but I had to say thank you anyhow.
Looking over at his tired face, I reached over and took his hand in mine.
He looked like he had been through hell and who knows how many days it has been since the invasion.
“Can you tell me what happened? How long has it been? Last thing I remember was Andy holding me while she was running and then it all went blank.”
I pulled the sheet off of my legs (luckily someone had the decency to put a nightgown on me) and slowly moved them till the tips of my toes met the floor.
Gus helped as I scooted to the edge and then I made him sit with me on the bed. As the feeling was coming back to my legs, I sat expectantly waiting for him to begin.
“I better start from the beginning. It looks like the gate was sabotaged. Someone had set a charge at the gate that went off around midday when everyone would be outside for lunch. I am guessing it is linked to the bomb at the labs and I would even say to Andy’s fathers research. It is all linked, I just know it. There are powers at play that we don't yet understand and it’s putting us all in danger” he whispered hoarsely.
He began to cough so I quickly reached for the water and passed it to him and rubbed his back as he drank.
“You need to lie down Gus, you are fatigued. Please.”
“I will, but not now. Soon” he promised and continued.
“Well, that was two days ago. I had gotten a couple of the injured into the building and when I returned, those men from the Archivio were there. Magnus and his warriors. By some miracle, he had gotten here just in time to save both you and Andy.
It was honestly like nothing I had ever seen before. He moved so fast, that one second he was there and then the next he was the largest damn Lycan I had ever seen! And his fur was pitch-black, believe it or not!”
I frowned as I watched Gus describe the scene from that fateful day.
A black Lycan?
Don't they usually have brown fur?
Who is this Magnus and can we trust him with Andy?
“Anyway, when he shifted, all of his warriors followed suit and they had gathered all the Vargul to the center. Magnus went to you and Andy and killed four Vargul in one go- he was livid! I honestly have never seen Vargul cower like that…
When they were all dead, the warriors shifted back stark naked and carried all the injured to the infirmary and they worked on the Vargul bodies while the rest of us collected our fallen.”
He hung his head at that last part and paused as he rubbed his eyes then continued.
“Since both you and Andy were incapacitated, I took care of the critical people including yourself and Andy. It looks like you both got an infection from their claws incredibly fast so we had to work quickly. Marianne took charge of your recruits and got them working to save as many people as we could. The gate has been properly repaired and the whole of Tectum as well as the Archivio are working round the clock to get us back on our feet. I'm sure in a few days we will be okay… I’m sure.”
“How many,” I whispered.
He kept quiet and tried to shake his head for me to drop it.
“No, Gus. How many did we lose? I need to know.”
Keeping his head down, I saw his chin begin to shake.
“Twenty nine. We lost twenty nine souls.”
Twenty nine people.
Twenty nine people who fought for those they loved or were trying to run to safety.
All people who were once part of our everyday life and home and are suddenly no longer.
And as fate would have it, I probably knew every single one of them.
My eyes began to leak uncontrollably with Gus in my arms as he sobbed quietly at my side and we sat like that until we couldn’t cry any more.
When we were done, I made him lie down in my bed to get some sleep before Marianne and Yann arrived and went to get changed.
No more laying in bed for me.
Time to go to work.
- Writer
